Week Five, Thing Ten

I did enjoy playing with the image generators, and my playing led me to a few other sites that were linked through the Comic Strip generator (the tarot card is the result of that meander), but I wasn't feeling particularly pithy today, so I didn't really create any images that I am proud of. I've posted two examples here...





This post feels very random...

Week Four, Thing Nine

I browsed through the lists of "best blogs" on Edublogs, and really liked this one

I also find it kind of amusing that when using the Google Blog Search with the term "library learning 2.0" the first link I find is this article, which I thought would provide a direct link to the site we have been using in this class, but instead, it takes me to http://schoollibrarylearning2.blogspot.com/ which looks only slightly different in layout from the classroomlearning2.blogspot blog that we have been working with (no avatar, for one).

Other than layout, these two blogs seem almost identical: the same person serves as a contact point for each, and I wonder why two such similar blogs exist, run by the same people. I prefer the layout to the classroomlearning blog, with the quick links on the right to each "thing", but it seems really redundant for the California School Library Association to maintain both tutorials instead of consolidating down into one.

Week Four, Thing Eight

I think the RSS feed is a really great idea. I like that I can have the content I want without ads or the hassle of going from site to site to read it. I am ashamed to admit this as a teacher and a librarian, but I have never been much of a fan of print news, or news in general. I have only recently begun listening to NPR in the afternoons (I like"The World"), so being up to date on news matters is relatively new for me. I don't honestly know if I will utilize my bloglines account, given how hard it is for me to fit additional items into my schedule, but I am going to try to read it at least twice a week.

I think this would be a great technology to push on high school students, teaching them how to set up an account and requiring that they utilize it over the course of a semester or year long technology or social studies class. The combination of internet and news sources may appeal to teens more than picking up an old-fashioned print newspaper.

Week Three, Thing Seven

So...blog about technology...any technology...

First, I adore using blogs for education purposes. Last year as a media specialist, I had my students create blogs as part of the presentation of a research project: there were some kinks, but overall, it was an exciting medium for students to begin playing with, and an interesting way for them to present their research, in pieces as they went instead of a formal paper at the end. I don't know if I will be using blogging in the classroom this year, but I would like to work it back in again.

I have become so dependent on my computer, which amuses me since we didn't have a computer at home until I was in late elementary school. Now, I am always utilizing it: to send email, to write stories, to plan lessons, I even watch tv and movies on my computer! It's amazing how different this is from my childhood memories, playing computer games with crummy graphics and agonizingly slow speeds and occasionally using WordPerfect to write a report. As a kid, I actually preferred my mom's old electric typewriter!

It's also amazing to sit back and consider if technology has come so far in my short lifetime, how much further will it go over the course of the next 25 or even 50 years?

Week Three, Thing Six

I played with the Flick mashup to make a mosaic at http://bighugelabs.com/, and the end result wasn't what I was expecting. When I think of photo mosaics, I think of those huge images that make one composite picture out of many tiny different images. I have always thought those were so cool! The mosaic I created (using a random set of Flickr images that I found) was interesting, but not as impressive as the image I had in my mind.

I really like the ability to make real jigsaw puzzles, and I am trying to think of a friend or relative that would enjoy a gift like that just so I can have the excuse to make one!

I like all the functions Flickr offers, but as a whole when it comes to photographs, I am an old-fashioned girl: not only do I insist on printing images and storing them in tangible albums, but I still shoot with 35 mm film and prefer black and white film over color. Don't get me wrong: I love my digital camera, and it has made my trigger finger a lot less expensive than when I was a teen and I would get entire rolls of film printed that only had one or two worthwhile shots. I just enjoy the dark room manipulations for film more than I enjoy the digital tricks and manipulations.

Week Three, Thing Five

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7654252@N08/3904915342/

I want to talk briefly about this image. I found it by using the random function Flickr offers to look for "interesting" images that have been loaded within a week.

Rationally, I know that the circles of reflection are simply that: reflections. Irrationally, they remind me of orbs, the supposed manifestations of ghosts and spirits that are sometimes captured on film. I don't know if I believe in that, but the rare times when I see photos of my own with an unexplained circle, I have to stop and wonder.

In my imaginary world of this image, this woman is surrounded by orbs...perhaps she has lost many loved ones, or perhaps the dead find her fascinating. Or maybe they aren't orbs at all, but glimpses of the fairy folk...

My mind is ready to frolic and play this afternoon.

Week Two, things three and four

Create a blog: check
create an avatar: check (isn't she cute?)
register the blog with http://classroomlearning2.blogspot.com/2007/08/23-things.html: check
Post link for blog with class: check

Week One, Things One and Two

So far, I have just begun to explore the "23 things" tutorial, including the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learning.

Even before I understood the term “lifelong learner”, I think I always knew I was one. I read voraciously as a child (still do!) and would make up “home work” assignments for myself over the summers. I love exploring new things, and particularly enjoy art classes and dance and movement classes.

Looking at the 7 ½ habits of lifelong learning, it was really obvious to me which was easiest for me, and which one causes me the most difficulty. I ALWAYS begin with the end in mind, setting goals and finding ways to work towards that ultimate end result. Sometimes, however, this strength becomes a weakness, since I fixate on the future and the goal and forget to look up on the journey.

The item I have the most difficulty with is viewing problems as challenges. I treat any setback or issue, no matter how minor, as earth-shattering. I do not often find value in problems, even though I know that I can overcome whatever I face, and that I always end up smarter/happier/wiser/whatever-er after moving through a difficult situation. I am trying to work on keeping things in perspective, and using the glass-half-full approach of viewing problems as challenges.